Category: computer

SSL, Secure Sockets Layer, keeps data sent between two points from being intercepted and misused by a third party. This means that your password, credit card info, Social Security card number, or the name of your girlfriend’s dog will be safely transmitted when you click the DoIt button. But that is all it does. Once […]

I was sitting at my computer (where else), hopping between Twitter and other things. Music suddenly started playing out of nowhere, loud and clear. I went all WTF and looked for the source. With four workspaces, four browsers and a few other windows open…woof. On my way down through my cyberspace mansion, I closed the […]

A Short Tale of Betrayal I have built a reputation for honest work and trustworthiness. People rely on me to help them recover their passwords, rescue locked email accounts, salvage their lost files, clean up and speed up their computers. Last Friday, I was fired from a job I held for nearly ten years. Seems […]

Why Your Computer Is Slow–The Real Reasons (A Slightly Tongue-in-Cheek Look at the Fine Art of Maintenance) 1. It was made that way. You wanted cheap, you got cheap. Manufacturers like to sell quantity, not quality, because they can turn over more stock faster. Walmart employees are paid to sell you stuff, not to know […]

For years I suffered from stuck clipboard in MS Office 2010, especially when setting up newsletters in Publisher. I finally got off my butt and found out what the problem was. ^#&$@#&%$ Office has its own &%^$^$$ clipboard. Sometimes, when you’ve been doing a lot of copy/paste within the working file, it sticks on the […]

One thing I sometimes miss, since I left Windows, is Free Commander, with its myriad features. I still use it whenever I’m stuck for a while in Microsoft Land, and sometimes even in Debian, but when I’m “at home” my default file manager is Nautilus. Though it doesn’t have the dual panes or many built-in […]

If you really have to follow a link in spam, if you just can’t help it, totally can’t control yourself, must do it, will die of stupidcuriosity if you don’t, SLAP YOUR HAND. Then, carefully move the cursor to the Delete button and annihilate the temptation. Your computer will now have a slightly better chance […]

…Or, Why I Kicked Windows into the Bitbucket and Started Living. My computing life began with Windows; I “grew up” in it. Sometimes I dual-booted one or another Linux distro, but Windows, whatever version, was my main workspace since early 2001. From 95 to Vista (and 7 at work), I slogged through Microsoft’s increasingly baroque […]

From the Department of Insane Hacks On Halloween, Windows played a dirty Trick on me, so I gave myself a great Treat: I blew Windwoes to hell and installed Debian. Life has been wonderful ever since — but that’s not what this story is about. Because I like playing World of Tanks, I ended up […]

I thought I got hacked yesterday. This line of text appeared — with no apparent cause — in a text file that was open but out of sight: Cracked and cul De SAC and all will have some fun and this one th at a picnic After finding no clues in any obvious way, I […]